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Soddo (autonym kəstane "Christian"; formerly called Aymälläl in Western sources, after a particular dialect of it) is a Gurage language spoken by about 300,000 people in southeastern Ethiopia. It is a South Ethiopian Semitic language of the Northern Gurage subfamily.

Grammar

Noun

As in most Ethiopian languages, noun qualifiers generally precede the noun.

The definite article is expressed by the suffix -i, eg: goš "boy" > goš-i "the boy"; ätit "sister" > ätiti "the sister"; bayyočč "children" > bayyočč-i. If the noun ends in -a or -ä, it normally loses this vowel when -i is suffixed: angačča "cat" > angačč-i "the cat". A noun ending in -i usually stays the same: abi "(the) father, proprietor". A noun ending in -e, -o, -u adds a y before the suffix: ge "house" > geʸi "the house"; wälläho "neighbour" > wällähoʸi "the neighbour". If the noun has a qualifier, the article is used with the first element: maläk' ge "big house" > maläk'-i ge "the big house"; yä-šum-i ge "the house of the official" (lit. "of-official-the house"); yä-mät't'-i məss "the man who came" (lit. "who-came-the man".)

There is no real indefinite article, though indefiniteness can be expressed by preposing the word attə or k'una, meaning "one".

Nouns have two genders, masculine and feminine, which affect verb concord.

Nouns which are definite objects ( direct or indirect) are both marked with the prefix yä- or nä-: eg yä-geʸi ažžo "he saw the house"; yä-zämmihʷan abännət "he gave it to his brother" (lit. "to-his-brother he-gave-him"). Direct objects may additionally be marked by adding the object suffix pronouns to the verb: eg yabiddi täšakkunnət "I asked my father" (lit. "my-father-obj. I-asked-him".)

A possessed noun is marked by the prefix yä-, and the possessor precedes the possessed: yä-šum-i ge "the house of the official" (lit. "of-official-the house"). If the possessed noun has a preposition prefixed to it, this yä- is omitted: babiddi färäz rather than *bä-yä-abiddi färäz for "on my father's horse".

Pronoun

Personal pronoun

English

Standalone form

Possessive suffix (consonant-final nouns)

Possessive suffix (vowel-final nouns)

I

ädi

-əddi

-ddi

you (m. sg.)

dähä

-dä

-dä

you (f. sg.)

däš

-däš

-däš

he

kʷa

-äw, -kʷan

-w, -hʷan

she

kʸa

-ki

-hi

we

əñña

-əñña

-ñña

you (m. pl.)

dähəm

-dähəm

-dähəm

you (f. pl.)

dähma

-dähma

-dähma

they (m.)

kənnäm

-kənnäm

-hənnäm

they (f.)

kənnäma

-kənnäm

-hənnäm

Possessives can also be formed by simply adding yä- to the standalone pronouns, eg: yädähəm t'əb "your clan".

The past tense ("he was", etc.) is expressed by the verb näbbär conjugated regularly in the perfect; "he was not" etc. is with annäbär. The future tense is expressed by the imperfect of hono: yəhonu "he will be", etc. The negative future tense is likewise expressed by tihon. The present copula in subordinate clauses is expressed by the subordinate perfect of honä, eg: däffär yähonä tädi-goy yalfu "he who is courageous will go with me.

"It is he", etc. can be expressed by adding an element -tt between the pronoun and the copula: eg kʷa-ttə-n "it is he".

The existential verb "be at", "exist" in the present is:

English

be at/there

not be at/there

I am

yinähi

yellähu

you (m. sg.) are

yinəho

yellähä

you (f. sg.) are

yinäšin

yelläš

he is

yino

yellä

she is

yinätti

yellät

we are

yinäno

yellänä

you (m. pl.) are

yinähmun

yellähəm

you (f. pl.) are

yinähman

yellähma

they (m.) are

yinämun

yelləm

they (f.) are

yinäman

yelləma

In the past and future, it is expressed just like the copula, with näbbärä and honä. In subordinate clauses the present is expressed with -allä conjugated in the perfect (negative -lellä), eg: bämeda yalləmi säbočč araš näm "the people who are in the field are farmers".

Verbs

A Soddo verb may have anywhere from one to four consonants, or may be a compound with balo "say" (eg bək'k' balo "appear".) In the former case, they fall into three " conjugations" differing in their vowels and in gemination of the imperfect, illustrated for a three-consonant verb:

säbbäro, imperfect yəsäbru ("break")

tikkälo, imperfect yətikkəlu

č'affäro, imperfect yəč'affəru

Derived stems can be formed in several ways:

reduplicative: eg gäddälo "kill" > gədaddälo. This form has a wide variety of meanings, mostly intensifying the verb in some way.

passive/reflexive/ intransitive tä- prefix: eg käffälo "pay" > tä-käffälo "be paid". A reciprocal action can be expressed by this prefix attached to a transitive verb with the vowel a after the first radical, or a reduplicative form, eg tä-gäddäl-mun or tä-gdaddäl-mun "they killed each other".

causative of transitive or passive verbs at- (+ -i-): eg käddäno "cover" > at-kiddäno "cause to cover" or "cause to be covered". Added to the -a- form, it expresses reciprocity and adjutative (helping): atgaddälo "cause to kill one other" or help to kill".

Some verbs are formed with initial ən- or tän-; the only derived stem from these is the a- stem, with a- replacing ə- or tä-. Eg ənkrättäto "be bent" > ankrättäto "bend".

There are two tenses, perfect (past) and imperfect (non-past); each has distinct forms for main versus subordinate clauses, and positive versus negative. There are also distinct jussive, imperative, and impersonal forms.

Conjugations

Perfect

English

main clause

subordinate clause

relative clause

subordinate with -m

I measured

säffär-ki

säffär-kʷ

yä-säffär-k-i

säffär-kum

you (m. sg.) measured

säffär-ko

säffär-kä

yä-säffär-k-i

säffär-käm

you (f. sg.) measured

säffär-šin

säffär-š

yä-säffär-š-i

säffär-šəm

he measured

säffär-o

säffär-ä

yä-säffär-i

säffär-äm

she measured

säffär-ätti

säffär-ät

yä-säffär-ätt-i

säffär-ättəm

we measured

säffär-no

säffär-nä

yä-säffär-n-i

säffär-näm

you (m. pl.) measured

säffär-əmun

säffär-kəmu

yä-säffär-kəm-i

säffär-kəmum

you (f. pl.) measured

säffär-kəman

säffär-kəma

yä-säffär-kəma-yi

säffär-kəmam

they (m.) measured

säffär-mun

säffär-m

yä-säffär-m-i

säffär-mum

they (f.) measured

säffär-man

säffär-ma

yä-säffär-ma-yi

säffär-mam

The form with suffixed -m is used in subordinate clauses to connect verbs not otherwise connected, in a way analogous to Japanese -te; it can be translated as "and", as a gerund, or as a resultative. The perfect in -m followed by näbbär forms the pluperfect.

The negative perfect is formed by prefixing al-, with vowel change; for the conjugations mentioned above, the resulting forms are al-säfärä, al-täkkälä, and al-č'afärä.

Examples: ge aräššo "he built a house"; banätäw k'ən awänna-m bämida tonnaw "having put butter on the top of his head, he sat outside".

Imperfect

English

main clause

subordinate clause

I advance

äbädru

äbädər

you (m. sg.) advance

təbädru

təbädər

you (f. sg.) advance

təbädri

təbʸedər

he advances

yəbädru

yəbädər

she advances

təbädri

təbädər

we advance

(ən)nəbädru

(ən)nəbädər

you (m. pl.) advance

təbädrəmun

təbädrəm

you (f. pl.) advance

təbädrəman

təbädrəma

they (m.) advance

yəbädrəmun

yəbädrəm

they (f.) advance

yəbädrəman

yəbädrəma

Like the perfect, the subordinate forms can take the suffix -m to express a series of non-past actions. This can be combined with näbbär to express a habitual past action.

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